Marathon said in a statement that there have been no reports of injuries.
TEXAS CITY, Texas — Fire broke out at the Marathon Petroleum refinery in Texas City Saturday, leading to a shelter-in-place that has since been lifted.
The Texas City Office of Emergency Management (OEM) first posted about the fire at the refinery on 5th Avenue South, east of 25th Street South, at 12:25 p.m. By 1:30 p.m., Marathon told us the fire was under control.
The Texas City Fire Department responded and air-monitoring was taking place. Air 11 flew over the refinery, showing crews battled the fire, and dark smoke turned lighter.
The Texas City OEM ordered a shelter-in-place as the fire was burning. That shelter-in-place was lifted at 2:14 p.m.
Eleanor Gonzales, who lives less than a mile from the plant, described the initial moments of the fire as shaking her home and leaving a coating of residue on her and her husband’s vehicles.
“You see the truck?” Gonzales said, pointing out the residue.
“You just wiped your finger on the truck and you can already see it?” KHOU 11’s Amanda Henderson asked.
Gonzales said she did not recall hearing emergency sirens during the incident.
“We always do and we hear a lady over the sirens saying evacuate and everything’s in the clear,” she said. “Nothing. No sirens, no nothing, just the vibration of the house.”
According to Texas City’s emergency management team, the sirens activated at 12:49 p.m. They said a shelter-in-place notification was also sent out correctly. Marathon reported no injuries from the incident, but Gonzales is seeking answers from the company.
“What was it that exploded? What is it because it’s going into our vehicles,” she said. “If it’s going to affect our lungs later on… what was it?”
Below is their full statement.
“Trained teams are responding to a fire at Marathon’s Galveston Bay refinery. At this time, there have been no reports of injuries and all personnel are accounted for. Air monitoring is being deployed in the community as a precaution. The safety of responders, workers and the community is our first priority as we respond to the situation.”
During the fire, wind was out of the south at around 8 miles per hour.
At this point, we don’t know the cause of the fire. As soon as we know more, we’ll post it here.
Viewers sent video to KHOU 11 as the fire was burning.